An extraordinary cookbook

Nathan Myhrvold on modernist cuisine

TO CALL "Modernist Cuisine: The Art & Science of Cooking" a "cookbook" is "akin to calling James Joyce's 'Ulysses' 'a story'," wrote Katy Mclaughlin in the Wall Street Journal. Nathan Myhrvold, a polymath's polymath, has written perhaps the most intimidating cookbook around. For a mere $625 it can be yours. Here he discusses his epic cookbook, patent-licensing and the law, and why he's getting into nuclear power.